Soup kitchen has 6 months, not 2 years, to move, US judge orders

A soup kitchen will have six months before it has to move, a federal judge ordered on Tuesday following a battle between the kitchen and the City of Orange.

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter's order came after two failed settlement talks over a license agreement dispute between the city and Mary's Kitchen. Carter said in the order that six months is enough time for the kitchen to move and for the city to come up with a better transition plan.

The city first offered three months, while the kitchen argued for 18 to 24 months.

Seymour B. Everett III of Everett Dorey LLP and counsel for Orange said in a statement that the city is pleased that the court did not provide the kitchen 18 to 24 months to vacate the property. But Everett said the city is concerned about the legal reasoning behind Carter's order.

"The city remains committed to helping the homeless by working with surrounding cities, community partners and the county," Everett said. "The city is working ... to improve the lives of the unhoused by preventing crime, encampments and physical and mental abuse. It is the goal of the city to work with community partners to break the cycle of homelessness and work within the system to get people off the street into homeless shelters to provide them with the help they need to improve their standard of living."

Everett said that Mary's Kitchen is not a homeless shelter but a soup kitchen.

The dispute started after the nonprofit filed a lawsuit against the city's attempt to shut down Mary's Kitchen for violating a lease agreement by not keeping the area safe and clean. The city also said the kitchen's patrons engaged in illegal activity and caused disturbances around the premises. Mary's Kitchen et al. v. City of Orange, 8:21-cv-01483, (C.D. Cal., filed Sept. 9, 2021).

In the order, Carter called the city's transition plan inadequate, saying that it lacks "concrete and workable actions." Carter said that the city's food alternatives pale compared to the hot meals provided by the kitchen.

"Ultimately, how the city chooses to fill the void in the long term is its own decision," Carter wrote, granting and denying in part the kitchen's application. "It cannot, however, evict Mary's Kitchen without an adequate plan to prevent endangering the unhoused residents of the City of Orange during the rainy season and ongoing pandemic."

Brooke A. Weitzman of Elder Law and Disability Rights Center and attorney for Mary's Kitchen said that she was pleased that the court recognized that the city's plan would leave the plaintiffs in danger.

"We look forward to working with the city in the coming months as Mary's Kitchen buys property and prepares to relocate its uninterrupted services," Weitzman said. "We hope that the city decides to be a partner in providing for its residents who are so desperately in need of access to help. This is especially true given the demand for the already full shelter beds will only go up ... as the winter months approach and the neighboring cities who are enacting new laws against those living in vehicles."